Wednesday, March 30, 2005

The current Spanish Prime Minister came to power promising to bring home Spanish troops from Iraq. He kept his word, removing them in an almost obscene hurry, once elected.
Like most of the anti-war left, Zapatero liked to cast himself in the mould of a man of peace, against the idea of using war as a tool. In this he claimed the moral high ground. Such a claim is now exposed for the lie it always was.

Spanish government plans to sell military equipment to Venezuela have been branded a "monstrous error" by political opponents.

That cuddly friendly man of peace is to supply weapons of war to South America’s newest Caudillo. The government of Venezuela is one which claims Cuba as an inspiration, and abuses its opponents by all means at its disposal.
The reason for this decision?

Socialist Party manager Jose Blanco said the sale would provide employment for Spanish workers - including those at the publicly-owned Navantia shipyards.

I guess that’s OK then. I mean employment is much more important than this:

The US state department has accused Venezuela of starting an arms race and has suggested the rifles (Sold by Russia) could end up in the hands of Colombia's left-wing Farc rebels.

The US could of course be wrong, but judging by Chavez’s public statements and his ambition to be a regional leader, there is of course a chance that they could be right.
Nice to see Spain fitting into the moral code of the Franco German Alliance.